Last March I spontaneously escaped Hanoi’s grotty weather and flew down to Hoi An for a long weekend. Alone. This year I planned a bit further in advance and booked a flight as soon as we returned from our Tet trip to Cambodia. The weather in March this year wasn’t quite as bad but the break was still welcome: Paul had been laid up in bed for weeks with a knee injury and we’d had a stressful office move, so I was ready for a bit of R&R and me time. The place I stayed in last year has apparently gone downhill — as Caroline put it, “Coconut is effin awful now – loads of gap yar retards with Honda Wins doing the buffalo trail and whining about the price of a chip.” — but fortunately there was another cheap beach option: a small complex of four new bungalows at the southern end of An Bang beach for just US$20 a night. The room was basic but good for the price, and only a few minutes walk from the beach. It was quite a trek from the main action on An Bang beach though, so a bicycle came in handy. I spent some time each day sunbathing with a good book on the beach but also managed to fit in a nose around some potential wedding venues and guest accommodation and a 1/2 day street food tour, comprising 19 different dishes. I have listed them below for prosperity. I ate well all weekend of course, thanks to recommendations including the fish carpaccio at Soul Kitchen and a lovely French dinner at Sea Shells. I ate (and drank): Bún nạm (Noodle soup with beef muscle) Cháo dinh dưỡng Bánh cuốn Cháo vịt (Duck congee) Mì cao lầu Bánh Bèo (Rice cake with shrimp paste) Ốc hút (Sucking snail ) Bánh kẹp trứng (Vietnamese pizza) Nem Chua (Fermented pork paste) Bánh kẹp (Coconut rice paper with shallot, beef and chilli) Bánh bông hồng trắng (White Rose) Che bap (Sweetcorn sweet soup) Bánh căn or Bánh khọt (Fried rice pan cake) Bún thịt nướng (Grilled pork with noodles) Cơm gà (Chicken Rice) Bánh đậu xanh nhân thịt (Green bean biscuit) Trứng vịt lộn (Duck fetus egg) Banh mì Phượng (The Hội an Burger) Caphe sua da Sài gòn (Coffee with condensed...

Firstly, Rocky Horror was…well, a very enjoyable way to spend an evening. Such a fun film it’d be hard not to enjoy watching it, and being surrounded by people dressed up and singing along added an extra dimension. Kat and I didn’t dress up but really wished we had made more of an effort as we didn’t realise until watching it how easy it would have been to have done something simple. A lab coat maybe. Anyway, next sing-along we will try harder! Between Hong Kong, where I left off with ramble part I, and now we’ve had a few highlights. Firstly our engagement party, which Laura very kindly organised for us at new restaurant Cousins. It was in the courtyard and she’d decorated it with merchandise bought all the way from the US and organised canapés and drinks and some live music. We didn’t invite a big crowd, as we’re saving that for Paul’s 40th, but had a few good friends along and a really enjoyable — if not wild! — evening. Unfortunately we didn’t take a camera so I do need to hunt down some photos from those who did. I’ll post when I get some. The weekend after that our friend Bryony arrived to stay for a week. Bryony lived in Hanoi back in 2010 and we spent a lot of time with her. It was great to have her over but a very gluttonous! We were out all but one night checking out various local establishments. We even made it back to Ete — an old haunt — and Old Quarter. Although I skipped on Hanoi Backpackers. On the less fun side of things, we left VietFighter and have joined Elite — a fancy pants gym really near to our house. When we left the UK we swore we wouldn’t join a gym again, but needs must and the schedule and style of training at VF had just stopped working for us: too many joint injuries were occurring. We’re trying to get there most mornings, although in reality miss one or two a week, and then go at the weekend as well. Although I say less fun, we’re actually quite enjoying it. Definitely less fun is the construction work that has started on the patch of what was waste-land outside our house. And for those of you who have visited, I mean on the patch of land literally 4 feet from our wall.  Fortunately they didn’t have to knock somewhere down — that is probably the noisiest and messiest part of construction here — and they are building quickly, but I know we have the tile cutting to come… We are lucky that our landlord is so good and has ensured they only work between 7am and 5pm, although that time seems to be creeping a bit. Still, at least they aren’t working all night. And we got a discount on our...